If you are tracking the NSE Do it via RICHLIVE and use Mozilla Firefoxas your Browser.0930-1500 KENYA TIMENormal Board - The Whole shebangPrompt Board Next day settlementExpert Board All you need re an Individual stock.

“Look, boys, it ever strike you that the world not real at all? Itever strike you that we have the only mind in the world and you justthinking up everything else? Like me here, having the only mind in theworld, and thinking up you people here, thinking up the war and allthe houses and the ships and them in the harbour. That ever cross yourmind?” ― V.S. Naipaul, Miguel Street

Between the Poles of the Conscious and the Unconsciousthere has the Mind made a Swing. Thereon hang allBeings and all worlds, and that Swing never ceases it's SwayMillions of Beings are there The Sun and the Moon in theircourses are there Millions of ages pass And The Swinggoes on. All Swing! The Sky and the Earth and the Air and the Water

Above Everest Base Camp, looking across the Khumbu Icefall to Everestand Nuptse. “You can’t see Lhotse at all walking in, but from thispoint you get a glimpse of the top of the Lhotse Face. It was thefirst time we could see there’s really snow, and that we might be ableto ski off the summit. At this point, our stoke is really high. Butthis is also the first time you see the icefall and I have no idea howwe’re going to get through that. So we’re like, ‘Oh boy, we gotta getto work.'” —Jim Morrison | P

ON THE AFTERNOON of September 30, 2018, with the sun shining and thewind just beginning to rise, Hilaree Nelson, 45, and Jim Morrison, 43,dropped their packs and skis and sat down in the deep, sugary snowatop the 27,940-foot summit of Lhotse, the fourth highest mountain onthe planet. It had been 12 hours and 4,140 vertical feet of climbingsince they'd left Camp 3—12 hours of slow, cold, focused, hypoxicsuffering; kicking and slipping in breakable crust; crawling on allfours; wallowing in waist-deep snow; and, finally, scrambling up agnarly section of rocky cliff near the summit.

In late August, President Abdulla Yameen of the Maldives hailed theopening of a Chinese-built bridge connecting two islands in thearchipelago as “the gateway into tomorrow and the opportunitiesbeyond.”One month later, Yameen was voted out and the new government of thepalm-fringed nation off the coast of India began to uncover themountain of debt with which he’d saddled the country.A pro-China strongman who jailed opponents and judges, Yameen borrowedheavily from Beijing to build a new runway for the main airport,housing developments and a hospital, as well as the 2.1 kilometer (1.3mile)-long “China-Maldives Friendship Bridge.”On a recent trip to New Delhi, Maldives officials opened up abouttheir frustration over the scale of the debt to China—the equivalentof almost 20 percent of GDP—and the inexplicable preference given toChinese financing under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). In justone example, the previous government rejected a $54 million hospitalbid in favor of an “inflated” Chinese offer of $140 million.“We have been burned,” said Economic Development Minister Fayyaz Ismail.The tourist paradise of the Maldives isn’t the only Asian nation todiscover that the promise of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s signatureinfrastructure program was too good to be true.After an unprecedented run of funding large-scale investments inprojects from railways to highways in poorer countries across Asia,governments are adopting a far more cautious approach to China’s grandplans for what it regards as its backyard.From Malaysia to Sri Lanka, simmering voter anger over deals perceivedas unfair or corrupt are prompting close examination, investigationand even suspension of projects until recently taken for granted.“The first phase of the Belt and Road is effectively over,” saidAndrew Small, a senior fellow with the German Marshall Fund’s Asiaprogram. “A new model has not yet emerged, but it is clear that theold one, almost entirely focused on speed and scale, is no longersustainable.”Chinese authorities have noted the examples of misconduct and arereassessing and tweaking their global infrastructure plans, said asenior Chinese official who asked not to be named discussing strategy.They are well aware that poorly executed projects can hurt China’sreputation and are alert to the potential for resentment to spread,the official said.Asia is in desperate need of infrastructure upgrades and no countryother than China has the appetite—or the ready resources—to meet thedemand for large-scale investments. Yet the criticism in Asia comes ata sensitive time of growing international skepticism of China’s globalintentions. While much of the focus is on President Donald Trump’sstandoff with Xi over trade, technology and market access, governmentsacross Europe, in Australia and in Japan are tightening up theirvetting of Chinese investments, particularly in criticalinfrastructure such as key ports and network systems.China has commissioned internal reports that have highlighted thebacklash, with the aim of continuing Xi’s outward push at a time whenthe economy is struggling.Authorities have stepped up scrutiny of BRI projects and investmentand are deliberating possible regulations, the official said, addingthat China is ready to take measures to clamp down on misconduct.That translates into “more willingness to renegotiate terms, morefocus on project quality, more efforts to cooperate with third-countrypartners such as Japan, and greater sensitivity to political andmacro-economic risk,” said the German Marshall Fund’s Small.The shift in sentiment among Asian governments is already tangible,and has burst into the open in recent months. In Pakistan, China’sall-weather ally for decades, militants angered by Chinese investmentin a remote area bombed and attacked the Chinese consulate in Karachilast month, killing seven people.In Sri Lanka, there is growing anger over China’s vast economicinfluence as a threat to the country’s sovereignty, while a Myanmargovernment adviser criticized as “absurd” the $7.5 billion price tagfor its Chinese-backed port, which was agreed to under the previousmilitary government.In Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad was elected prime minister in May afterquestioning Chinese investments on the campaign trail. In office, heslammed a “new version of colonialism,” as his government moved tosuspend a $20 billion Chinese railway project, and later cancelledthree China-backed pipeline projects worth $3 billion.Indian officials have long objected to the Belt and Road programbecause it funds $60 billion worth of infrastructure in Pakistan,including in parts of disputed Kashmir, which India claims as its own.And though New Delhi lacks the cash to compete against Beijing, Indiandiplomats insist countries have been lured into debt traps and viewthe recent criticism as legitimizing their long-standing position.Indeed, a report this year by the Washington-based Center for GlobalDevelopment identified eight nations at risk of debt distress fromChinese financing, among them Pakistan, the Maldives, Laos, Mongoliaand Djibouti, where China has its only overseas military base.Vietnam’s clashes with Beijing in the South China Sea meanwhile meansecurity fears there risk overshadowing investment projects.Increasingly, bashing China makes sound electoral sense in parts ofAsia. Indonesia, where the campaign for an April ballot could bringheightened scrutiny of Chinese projects, is an example of how China’sinvestments are often pulled into emerging market elections, accordingto Kelsey Broderick, an Asia associate at the Eurasia Group.“Candidates around the world have used public concerns over Chinesedebt as part of their successful challenges to incumbent candidateswho have embraced BRI with open arms,” said Broderick. He cited JairBolsonaro’s successful run for the Brazilian presidency on ananti-China platform, and said Kenya, Zambia and Thailand could facesimilar debates.Part of the concern comes from perceptions that, apart fromcontributing to unsustainable debt levels, China’s loans serveBeijing’s strategic goals in the Indian Ocean region key to globalshipping routes at a time when China is building islands in the SouthChina Sea.In the Maldives, former strongman Yameen’s increasingly overtpro-China policies included ramming a free trade agreement with Chinathrough parliament and denying work visas for professionals fromChina’s rival India. The strong-arm tactics ultimately backfired: NewMaldivian Finance Minister Ibrahim Ameer has asked for $200 million ofIndian loans and pledged to pursue an “India-first” foreign policy, asharp rebuke to Beijing.The Trump administration meanwhile has honed its message against theBelt and Road. Vice President Mike Pence told leaders at the recentAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Singapore that theU.S. doesn’t “offer a constricting belt or a one-way road.”The U.S. has set up an agency to lend as much as $60 billion forinfrastructure, and last month backed a plan to build a $1.7 billionelectricity grid in Papua New Guinea as part of a push to providecountries with alternative lending schemes. Still, that number palesin comparison to the Belt and Road, which Morgan Stanley says maytotal $1.3 trillion by 2027.Asia clearly needs more infrastructure: The Asian Development Bankforecasts the region needs $26 trillion worth of highways, railroadsand other infrastructure over the next decade or so. In the absence ofviable alternatives, China is likely to remain the first port of call.In any case, many countries in Asia and Africa still prefer Chineseloans that come with “no governance or accountability commitments,”said Broderick.In the five years since Xi launched Belt and Road, “China has been ona learning curve,” said Pang Zhongying, an international relationsprofessor from Macau University of Science and Technology. “It’s theright thing to do for China to reassess its BRI projects and put moreemphasis on risk control.”

"China had a singular and positive influence on Africa. It rebalancedthe demand side for Africa's commodities and also bought thosecommodities on a long-term basis. It was this which triggered theAfrican recovery some two decades ago, However, since then afreewheeling China Inc has favorited elites, has facilitatedlarge-scale looting via inflated infrastructure, some of which werewhite elephants on Day One, and has lumped the African citizen withthe tab. How this plays out is now the key to Sino-African relationsgoing forward. A Hambantota scenario would be problematic," referringto the Sri Lankan port which has been leased to China for 99 years[Sputnik]

You will recall that Presidents Trump and Xi Jinping enjoyed a muchanticipated ''Truce'' Dinner at the G20 in Buenos Aires and quaffed aCatena Zapata Nicolas Malbec [2014] wine with their sirloin steaks andfinished it all off with caramel rolled pancakes, crispy chocolate andfresh cream, a dinner that ran over by 60 minutes and one where thedinner Guests broke out into spontaneous applause thereafter.

At the very moment that the G2 Presidents were stuffing their gills,it has transpired that some 7,000 miles away, Canadian Authoritieswere making the arrest of Wanzhou Meng, chief financial officer ofHuawei Technologies Co. at the request of US Authorities. The U.S. isseeking the extradition of Wanzhou Meng after convincing Canada toarrest her on Dec. 1. Canada confirmed she was in custody shortlyafter the Globe and Mail reported she had been arrested in connectionwith violating sanctions against Iran. Meng is the daughter of thefounder of Huawei, a national champion and deeply embedded in XiJinping's China Inc. Bloomberg said ''While the U.S. routinely asksallies to extradite drug lords, arms dealers and other criminals,arresting a major Chinese executive like this is rare -- if notunprecedented''

“This is sending a signal that there is a new game” said DennisWilder, a former CIA China analyst and senior director for Asia at theNational Security Council under President George W. Bush.

It has also transpired that Ambassador John Bolton was aware of thearrest at the time. In the hiphop World, this would be called a[geopolitical] ''Diss''

A diss track or diss song (diss – abbr. from disrespect) is a songintended to verbally attack someone else, often as a response tosomeone's diss track. While musical parodies and attacks have alwaysexisted, the trend became increasingly common in the hip hop genrefueled by the hip hop rivalry phenomenon. [Wikipedia]

"Huawei used an unofficial subsidiary named Skycom to transactbusiness in Iran for Iranian telecommunication companies," Crownattorney John Gibb-Carsley alleged in a Vancouver courtroom. WanzhouMeng is being charged with conspiracy to defraud banks. Of course,Many will rail against the fact that the US' sanction warfare strategybut this is the way it is. Meng was said to have been a director ofSkycom at one point, Reuters reported in 2013. Skycom tried to sellS$2.03 million worth of Hewlett-Packard Co computer gear in late 2010,according to Reuters. Former employees of Skycom have stated that itwas not distinct from Huawei, and that Skycom employees had Huaweie-mail addresses and badges, according to the Canadian court filing.Documents obtained through an investigation by the US authorities showthat multiple Skycom bank accounts were controlled by Huaweiemployees, the filing said.

Canada will face "grave consequences" [Xinhua: (Ch.) 严重后果] if it doesnot immediately release Meng Wanzhou. The Vancouver Real Estate marketwhich has boomed for decades on the back of Chinese demand lookshorribly exposed. The temptation to ''mug'' the handsome JustinTrudeau is something the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia could not resistand it seems Xi is experiencing the same impulse.

It is worth noting that Huawei is very much in the crosshairs. NewZealand followed the US and Australia in banning Huawei networkingequipment from 5G communication networks, citing "national securityconcerns". As part of an "extraordinary outreach campaign", USsecurity officials have reportedly reached out to European and Asiancountries where Huawei equipment is already in use - including the UK,where Huawei hardware forms a key part of BT's 21st Century Network -warning them about the "national security risks" posed by the company.The US is mulling a subsidy for the purchase and maintenance ofnon-Chinese equipment by its allies, the WSJ reported noting that oneof the government's main concerns surrounds the use of Chinese telecomequipment in countries that host US military bases, such as Italy,Japan and Germany. Germany has already been considering a ban on 5Gequipment from Huawei. In Asia, a ban is also under consideration inJapan.

An important market for Huawei has been Africa. In fact, Huawei is thebloodstream of Africa's telecom infrastructure and ubiquitous. Howthis plays out in Africa is now an ''above the radar'' issue.

A lot of Folks have been remarkably casual in their assessment ofwhere this is all going. The US Administration is split with Appeasers[Wall Streeters] on one side and Hawks [Lighthizer and Navarro] on theother. Hawks are circling, I am afraid.

The detention in Canada of Meng Wanzhou, Huawei’s CFO and the daughterof its founder, is further inflaming tensions between the US andChina. Her arrest is linked to a US extradition request. On December 7a Canadian court heard that the request relates to Huawei's allegeduse of Skycom Tech, a company that dealt with Iranian telecom firms,to sell equipment to Iran between 2009 and 2014 in contravention of USsanctions on the country. China says her detention is a human rightsviolation and is demanding her swift release.Behind this very public drama is a long-running, behind-the-scenes onecentered on Western intelligence agencies’ fears that Huawei poses asignificant threat to global security. Among the spooks’ biggestconcerns:There could be “kill switches” in Huawei equipment … The Chinese firm is the world’s largest manufacturer of things likebase stations and antennas that mobile operators use to run wirelessnetworks. And those networks carry data that’s used to help controlpower grids, financial markets, transport systems, and other parts ofcountries’ vital infrastructure. The fear is that China’s military andintelligence services could insert software or hardware “back doors”into Huawei’s gear that they could exploit to degrade or disableforeign wireless networks in the event of a crisis. This has led tomoves in the US to block Chinese equipment from being used.that even close inspections missSince 2010, the UK has been running a special center, whose staffincludes members of its GCHQ signal intelligence agency, to vet Huaweigear before it’s deployed. But earlier this year, it warned that ithad “only limited assurance” that the company’s equipment didn’t posea security threatHuawei claims its equipment connects over a third of the world’spopulation. It’s also handling vast amounts of data for businesses.That’s why there’s fear in Western intelligence circles that backdoors could be used to tap into sensitive information using the firm’sequipment. This would be tricky to do undetected, but not impossible.Huawei doesn’t just build equipment; it can also connect to itwirelessly to issue upgrades and patches to fix bugs. There’s concernthat this remote connectivity could be exploited by Chinese cyberspies.Telecom companies around the world are about to roll out the nextgeneration of cellular wireless, known as 5G. As well as speeding updata transfers, 5G networks will enable self-driving cars to talk toeach other and to things like smart traffic lights. They’ll alsoconnect and control a vast number of robots in factories and otherlocations. And the military will use them for all kinds ofapplications, too. This will dramatically expand the number ofconnected devices—and the chaos that can be caused if the networkssupporting them are hacked. It will also ramp up the amount ofcorporate and other data that hackers can target. Both Australia andNew Zealand have recently banned the use of Huawei equipment in new 5Gwireless infrastructure. This week, the UK's BT followed suit.

“It’s my view that it shouldn’t really have much of an impact,” U.S.Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said on CBS. “It is totallyseparate from anything that I work on.” White House economic adviserLarry Kudlow said on Fox he thought Messrs. Trump and Xi woulddistinguish between a “trade lane” and a “law-enforcement lane.”

India’s Andaman Islands are where stone-age warfare meets 21st centuryweapons technology. On November 16, John Allen Chau, an AmericanChristian missionary, was killed in a hail of arrows fired byaboriginal Sentinelese tribesmen as he tried to land on North Sentinelisland to spread his faith.The island, one of the remotest and most isolated islands in theAndaman archipelago, is a no-go territory even for Indianadministrators, but was suddenly – if not fleetingly – in the globalmedia spotlight due to the US proselytizer’s demise.But there is a bigger hidden story in the Andamans, one with a moderngeo-strategic twist.On that same chain of remote islands, situated between Southeast Asiaand the Indian Subcontinent, India quietly maintains one of its newestand best-equipped military bases.From there, it monitors among other things the movements of Chinesesubmarines patrolling the entrance to the Malacca Strait shippingchokepoint while also eavesdropping on their radio traffic, accordingto sources familiar with the situation.The Andamans, along with the nearby Nicobar Islands, form an Indianunion territory run from New Delhi. It is home to what isappropriately called the Andaman and Nicobar Command, the Indianmilitary’s first and only tri-service command.Headquartered at Port Blair, the main town on the islands, the commandwas established in 2001 to safeguard India’s strategic interests inthe waters east of the Subcontinent and coordinates the activities ofthe navy, army and air force as well as the coast guards in theeastern Indian Ocean.The main bases are on the larger Andamans, while there is a naval airstation on the Nicobars not far from the northern tip of theIndonesian island of Sumatra.Now, as China expands its naval presence in the Indian Ocean, theAndamans have become a new maritime frontline in the increasinglypitched geopolitical rivalry between the two Asian giants.On December 30, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled tovisit the Andamans, officially to mark the 75th anniversary of thehoisting of the Indian tricolor flag and the declaration of Azad Hind,or Free India, in Port Blair.Free India was a provisional government established in 1943 in thenoccupied Singapore and supported by Empire Japan, Nazi Germany andItaly’s Social Republic – all Axis allies – during World War II.The Andamans and Nicobars were occupied by the Japanese during thewar, the only Indian territory to come under Tokyo’s control. Japan’sally at that time was Subhas Chandra Bose, the leader of the IndianNational Army, which fought alongside the Japanese Army in SoutheastAsia and on the fringes of South Asia.Modi will hoist the historical flag at exactly the same place in PortBlair where Bose performed the same ceremony on December 30, 1943.Today, Japanese and Indian nationalists are allies once again, as Modihas found a strategic soul mate in Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.Japanese naval vessels may soon be seen in Port Blair as well, as thetwo countries’ navies build a relationship to counter China’s moves inthe Indian Ocean.Talks are already underway between India and Japan to upgrade thelaggard infrastructure on the strategically situated islands, in aproject that represents a counter to China’s infrastructure buildinginitiative, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).Yet the idea of positioning a new Indian military command on theAndamans predates the BRI. It was first hatched in 1995 during aclosed-door meeting in Washington between India’s then prime ministerP V Narasimha Rao and then US president Bill Clinton, as it wasalready clear then that China was keen to establish a presence in theIndian Ocean.The plan was finalized when Clinton visited India in 2000, and sincethen US naval ships have docked at Port Blair, ostensibly to assist intraining rescue teams. But it is hardly a secret among militaryobservers that the larger reason is to strengthen an informal allianceof powers that are concerned about China’s rising maritime ambitions.Speaking at a roundtable conference organized by the New Delhi-basedthink tank the National Maritime Foundation, US Navy chief AdmiralGary Roughead said that American leaders at the highest level haddeclared Washington and New Delhi would be strategic partnersthroughout the 21st century: “I’m here to say that the United StatesNavy in particular is a committed friend to India for the long term.”In April 2016, India agreed to open its naval bases to the US inexchange for access to weapons technology to help narrow its gap withChina. That month officials also said that Chinese submarines had beensighted in the area on an average of four times every three months.Since then, India has received US assistance in tracking China’ssubmarines.But with Donald Trump in the White House, America’s commitment to Asia– and by extension India – may not be as firm as previously. That’scaused New Delhi to look increasingly to Tokyo for assistance inreasserting its position in its traditional sphere of influence.During an October visit to Tokyo, Modi and Abe concluded a range ofagreements to strengthen military cooperation, including an“Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement,” or ACSA, which will grantthe two sides’ armed forces reciprocal access to each other’s militarybases and facilities.It is obvious to most why China has moved into the Indian Ocean regionand no one questions the legitimacy of its interests: most of China’sforeign trade as well as its crucial oil imports pass through thewaters. But it is a new geopolitical development that other powers inthe region are watching with increased concern.China’s military base in Djibouti, its first overseas militaryfacility, has sparked speculation that the Chinese navy is aiming forstrategic access to other ports in Beijing-friendly nations in theregion such as Kyaukpyu in Myanmar, Gwadar in Pakistan and Hambantotain Sri Lanka.Today, India’s Andaman and Nicobar Command consists of a joint navaland air force base, two logistics support bases, two naval stationsand an air base. Those are rapidly becoming some of India’s mostimportant military outposts, security analysts say.More transport planes were brought in after the 2004 tsunami disaster,with the Indian Air Force eventually stationing a Sukhoi SU-30squadron on the Andamans, converting the facility into a fighteraircraft base. Indian military and policy makers now frequently referto the islands as a “stationary aircraft carrier.”The Indian Navy also maintains a major Naval Special Forces, known asMARCOS, detachment there, in large part to guard against China’smaneuvers in the Indian Ocean region.Modi’s upcoming visit there is thus not only a symbolic gesture tohonor an old freedom fighter and his budding friendship with Japan,but will also mark more officially the beginning of a new strategicera where Japan and India are once again close partners.The isolated Sentinelese tribe may be utterly unaware of what is goingon so near to their secluded home island. But to the rest of theworld, it is obvious that a new Cold War is emerging on the IndianOcean’s horizon and the Andaman islands are emerging as importantoutposts in that contest.

After 17 years in power Congolese president Joseph Kabila insists thathe has answered his critics by preparing to leave office following alandmark election this month, but he says he has no plans to walk awayfrom politics.The head of state in the Democratic Republic of Congo will step downafter the vote in two weeks’ time in what will be the country’s firstdemocratic transfer of power— a rare occurrence in central Africawhere some presidents have ruled for three decades.“Back in 2006 nobody thought that we were going to organise elections,2011 the same thing, and it wasn’t different this time around so wehave proven them wrong,” said Mr Kabila in a rare interview with theFinancial Times on Sunday in Kinshasa.If the polls do take place — and some doubts remain over the readinessof a new voting system — the vote will be historic. Congo has neverhad a change of government via the ballot box.Whether the transition will be the watershed moment in Congo’stroubled history that many hope is much less certain.Mr Kabila has built a sprawling coalition to contest the vote andpicked a loyal ally to run in his stead. He says he has no plans tostep away from politics and refuses to rule out running for presidentagain in the future, raising the prospect that little could changedespite the handover in the ruling party.“In life don’t rule outanything,” he says in the grand but faded presidential palace on thebanks of the Congo river. “Time will tell.”Mr Kabila was plunged into Congolese politics at 29 years old afterhis father, the rebel-leader-turned-president Laurent Kabila, wasassassinated during a bloody civil war that left millions dead. Withthe backing of the UN, the young heir negotiated a fragile peace and,against all odds, began rebuilding the country, holding Congo’s firstdemocratic elections in 2006 and relaunching mining activity in thecountry.Investors including Glencore and Freeport-McMoRan initially pouredinto the country, investing billions into copper and cobalt projects,which saw the economy expand from $7bn in 2001 to $38bn in 2015.More recently, however, progress has stalled, undermined by endemiccorruption and the political uncertainty generated by thefast-approaching vote.Mr Kabila was due to step down in 2016 but the polls were repeatedlydelayed, stoking suspicions that the leader was looking for a way tochange the constitution to hold on to power. Mr Kabila denies that wasever part of the plan.“I stated that the constitution was going to be respected . . . and Ikept my word,” he says.In August Mr Kabila stunned the country by picking a former interiorminister, Emmanuel Shadary, to represent his ruling coalition — anunpopular figure according to polling data.Critics argue that Mr Shadary, who was sanctioned along with otherCongolese officials by the EU in 2017 for alleged human rights abuses,was selected because he has been close to the president for 16 yearsand will be easy for Mr Kabila to control.Mr Shadary was chosen because he is a “patriot”, says Mr Kabila.“Someone who loves this country, someone who is capable of dying forthis country.”“We wanted a candidate who was going to consider the Congo as priorityand was not going to take any orders from anywhere else but from theCongolese people,” he adds.In the past decade, Mr Kabila has shied away from the press and thespotlight, making fewer and fewer public appearances. As protesterswere killed in 2016 over the delayed election, he said nothing andmade only one public statement in the whole year, an address toparliament.In person though he is relaxed and good-humoured “I don’t give lots ofinterviews” he chuckles. “I used to, until I got busy, very busy.”Initially surrounded by his late father’s advisers, Mr Kabila gainedin confidence as the years progressed and has increasingly exerciseddirect control over many parts of Congo’s chaotic political, securityand business establishments.He defends his record as one of reunification, peace and security,though he admits that many objectives are still “a work in progress.”Production of copper — the country’s main export — soared under MrKabila’s administration from 30,000 tonnes a year in 2001 to more than1m tonnes today, but revenues have rarely filtered down to Congo’s 80mpeople, nearly two-thirds of whom live on less than $1.90 a day,according to the World Bank.Fighting continues to kill thousands of people every year in differentparts of the country, infrastructure investment has been patchy andcorruption remains rife. “All these are areas that work will have tocontinue to be done,” he says.Mr Kabila says he learnt from Mobutu Sese Seko, Congo’s formerpresident, that one should always know when to quit. Mobutu was chasedout of office after 32 years by Laurent Kabila’s rebel army and diedin exile in Morocco.“Time is up. We make room for the next administration and we continueto be available for the nation,” he says.Opposition leaders have criticised the independence and preparednessof the country’s electoral commission, and say that insecurity and theworld’s second worst Ebola outbreak will make voting difficult inparts of the country, rendering it easier for Mr Shadary to win.If he does, just how “available” the former president intends to be isthe important question.

But Shadary will contest the poll under EU sanction, after the blocextended the travel ban and asset freeze imposed on him over his roleas interior minister in a crackdown on opposition activists.The bloc rejected a call by Shadary in October to lift the sanctions,which he called "humiliating, degrading and disproportionate".Foreign ministers from the 28 EU states meeting in Brussels approvedthe extension of sanctions against Shadary and 13 other officials over"the obstruction of the electoral process and the related human rightsviolations".In a statement, the Council of the EU reiterated "the importance ofholding credible and inclusive elections in line with the aspirationof the Congolese people to elect their representatives".

The Trump administration plans to unveil a new strategy for Africathis week focusing on countering China's growing influence on thecontinent, as well as Russia's attempts to gain footholds inresource-rich, unstable countries, two senior U.S. officials told NBCNews.The strategy will call for bolstering U.S. ties with countries deemedpotentially vulnerable to overtures from China and Russia, as well asseeking to fend off attempts by North Korea and Iran to make inroadsthrough economic investments or arms sales, said the senioradministration officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.The plan, drafted by the White House National Security Council and dueto be presented this week at a Washington think tank, will signal ashift by the administration — already underway — that emphasizesAmerica's rivalry with China and Russia as a top priority rather thanan exclusive focus on fighting terrorist threats, the officials said."Counterterrorism is no longer the organizing principle," said onesenior administration official, who was not authorized to speak on therecord."It's about geopolitics and countering the influence of China and others."The planned Africa strategy does not call for devoting more fundingfor U.S. diplomacy, intelligence gathering or aid, but instead arguesfor using existing resources more effectively, an administrationofficial and a defense official said.Given that the White House has no plans to dramatically expand U.S.resources devoted to Africa, it's not clear how the administrationwill succeed in countering China, Russia or other adversaries, expertssaid.The White House strategy is expected to name several countries asanchors for the U.S. strategy, and experts close to the administrationexpect the list to include Kenya, a longstanding U.S. ally. For U.S.counterterrorism efforts, the administration will seek to continue anumber of key partnerships, including with Somalia, Libya and Mali,officials said."The Chinese government or its state-owned companies haveextraordinary power to dictate to these African countries," saidJoshua Meservey, a senior policy analyst at the right-leaning HeritageFoundation, adding that China is "the most consequential foreign actorin Africa.""In our engagement in Africa, we need to provide a contrast with Chinaand Russia, based on who we are and what we value," Johnson said."The U.S. should compete in Africa by doing what's consistent withAmerican values and not engaging in some realpolitik.

Many Zimbabweans, like Takudzwa Ndlovu, an office worker in Harare,are confused.“How can the government refuse to accept the money that it uses to payits own people. And then arrest us for looking for the only currencythat actually works?” he said.Changing one’s salary into foreign currency can be a nightmare.Ndlovu gets $450 every month in mobile money. His bank, like everyother bank in the country, no longer issues foreign currency forelectronic bank balances, even though the government insists thatmobile money and bond notes are on par with the dollar.“The black market is my only option. We are innocent people justtrying to survive, but the government has turned us into criminals,”Ndlovu told The Associated Press.The vice president of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, PatienceTaruvinga, called the mobile money worthless.“Salaries are being eroded daily,” Taruvinga said, criticizing the newgovernment, which has promised to turn the country into a middle-classeconomy by 2030. “We cannot talk of Christmas anymore.”The currency crisis is causing unrest. In November, thousands ofopposition supporters protested in Harare, while doctors at publichospitals are on strike over low pay and poor working conditions. Theyearn a basic salary of about $350 in mobile money, which translates to$100 in dollars using black market rates.

The forward price-to-earnings ratio for the FTSE/JSE Africa All SharesIndex has dropped to 11.4 times from 15.5 at the start of the year.That’s reduced its premium over MSCI’s gauge of emerging-marketequities to the lowest level since early 2012.

Output for the season that ends next June may climb 51 percent toreach an April forecast of 65,000 tons, Kajiru Kissenge, actingdirector of coffee development and operations at the Tanzania CoffeeBoard, said Monday by phone from Moshi, in the north of the country.The board in April raised its forecast for this season amid improvedweather, a high crop cycle and as trees trees planted in recent yearsadd to supply. Harvesting in the north ended last month, Kissengesaid. It typically finishes in October in the west and December in thesouth, according to the board’s website.The arabica variety accounts for about 60 to 70 percent of Tanzania’scoffee output. The nation follows Ethiopia, Uganda and Ivory Coast asAfrica’s top producer of the beans.

KONZA, Kenya, Dec 11 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - L abourers milledaround an unfinished eight-storey building in an expansive field inKonza dotted with zebra and antelope - the only visible sign ofprogress in a decade-old plan to make Kenya into Africa’s leadingtechnology hub by 2030.Grandiose plans, red tape and a lack of funding have left KonzaTechnopolis - the $14.5 billion new city to be built some 60 km (37miles) southeast of Nairobi - way behind schedule on its goal ofhaving 20,000 people on site by 2020.“It has taken too long and I think people have moved on,” said techentrepreneur Josiah Mugambi, founder of Alba.one, a Nairobi-basedsoftware company, who was initially excited by the government’sambitious project.Dubbed the Silicon Savannah, Konza aims to become a smart city - usingtech to manage water and electricity efficiently and reduce commutingtime - and a solution to the rapid, unplanned urbanisation which hasplagued existing cities.About 40 percent of Africa’s 1 billion people live in towns and citiesand the World Bank predicts the urban population will double over thenext 25 years, adding pressure to already stretched infrastructure.Konza’s dream is to become a top business process outsourcing hub by2030, with on-site universities training locals to feed into a200,000-strong tech-savvy workforce providing IT support and callcentre services remotely.But the first building has yet to be completed on the 5,000-acreformer cattle ranch, three years after breaking ground, and businesshas shifted its focus to other African countries, like Rwanda, withcompeting visions to become modern tech hubs.“Nobody can wait that long for a city to be built. For a techentrepreneur, they think about where their startup will be two tothree years down the line,” said Mugambi.Other smart cities planned across Africa include Nigeria’s EkoAtlantic City near Lagos that will house 250,000 people on landreclaimed from the sea, Ghana’s Hope City and an Ethiopian city styledas the real Wakanda after the film “Black Panther”.Bringing such utopian schemes to life is no easy task for Africangovernments that are struggling to provide adequate roads, power,water and security to their existing cities.“Upgrading infrastructure in places like Kibera (slum) in Nairobi toprovide water and a better sewerage system is equally as important asbuilding a new city such as Konza,” said Abdu Muwonge, a senior urbanspecialist with the World Bank in Kenya.“The vision is wrong; the vision is too big,” said Aly-Khan Satchu, aNairobi-based independent financial analyst.“This is miles from anywhere. There are not leveraging the existinginfrastructure ... It is assuming that you can bring in academia, youcan bring in venture capital, you can bring in corporates.”The first serious hurdle arose in 2012 when the National LandCommission (NLC), which manages public land, introduced a cumbersomeland acquisition procedure, said Bitange Ndemo, who led a team thatconceived Konza Technopolis in 2008.“The NLC was saying we should follow the processes of acquiring publicland, which would take years to complete,” Ndemo, now an associateprofessor of business at the University of Nairobi, told the ThomsonReuters Foundation.The delays caused at least one deal with a German university to fallthrough, he said, as the process was much slower than the old onewhere investors signed deals directly with government ministries whichtook care of land leases.To resolve this, the government transferred ownership of the site tothe Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KoTDA), set up in 2012 toco-ordinate development of the new city, which now allocates land toinvestors on 50-year renewable leases.In its strategic plan, the government promised to fund 10 percent ofKonza, laying the infrastructure, while the private sector would comein with the rest of the money to build universities, offices, housingand hotels.But the government was slow to contribute its share and has yet topass a law to create KoTDA as a legal entity which would make iteasier to sign contracts with external lenders, said Lawrence Esho,one of Konza’s project planners until 2013.“They are way behind schedule partly because the government took timeto give Konza money,” he said, adding that no money came in until2013.“This stopped any work from starting at the site and investors mayhave developed cold feet as they waited.”KoTDA’s chief executive, John Tanui, said the government has committedto invest more than 80 billion shillings ($780 million).“When I say committed does not mean we have absorbed. Our absorptionis less than 10 percent of that figure,” he said, without elaborating.The government has stepped up funding since last year, said AbrahamOdeng, deputy secretary at Kenya’s Information Communications andTechnology ministry, without giving figures.Odeng pointed to a 40 billion shilling contract signed in 2017 with anItalian firm to build roads, water and sewerage infrastructure by2021, funded by the Italian government.“That is a concessional loan, which is a long-term loan that theKenyan government will pay,” he said.But Kenya’s growing reliance on loans is causing jitters, with theInternational Monetary Fund warning of an increased risk of defaultthis year.Cities cannot be financed through central government but the absenceof international firms points to a lack of investor confidence in theproject, said the World Bank’s Muwonge.“Getting Konza city off the ground will require that we pull inprivate capital with concessions for them to deliver certain kinds ofinfrastructure for which the government may not have resources,” hesaid.“The issue is eliminating the challenges for the private sector tocome and do business.”Five local investors, including Nairobi-based software developer CraftSilicon and the state-run Kenya Electricity Transmission Company, areexpected to build offices, residential buildings and hotels by 2020,KoTDA head Tanui said.But critics say it is not enough.“What (investors) have allocated so far is still a drop in the ocean,”said Ndemo, the former government technocrat.And international interest is shifting elsewhere.Rwanda - widely regarded as the least corrupt country in East Africa -launched its Kigali Innovation City in 2015, designed to host 50,000people in universities and tech companies on a 70-hectare site outsidethe capital.The $2 billion plan, due for completion by 2020, is seven timescheaper than Konza."All these other (cities) have better proximity, have better densityand have better collaborative feedback loops," said financial analystSatchu. "We are now at a serious disadvantage vis-a-vis these othercountries."